JFK assassination @ 55

There have been three great American presidents during my lifetime, but each was fundamentally the same as the others: John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump. Not a racist bone in their bodies, each with a love of individual freedom coupled with a deep desire to defend our way of life, and anti-socialist to their very core.

Reagan once said that he had not left the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party had left him. I’m not sure that in voting Republican any time since the end of World War II that there has been any fundamental shift in the underlying philosophy of what that meant. But in voting Democrat, everything of substance has changed.

November 22 remains a date that I always notice, but one which fewer and fewer now do, even among those who personally remember that terrible day in Dallas.

Individuals make a difference. The Great Man theory of history is true so far as it goes, but there is only so much room anyone can manoeuvre. I don’t wish to be too political, but JFK could not survive in the Democratic Party as it has now become. Like Reagan and Trump, he would have had to become a Republican to have found a political home.

JFK was over-rated. Most of the civil rights legislation was passed under LBJ – the most under-rated – who worked across the aisle using threats, cooling, calling in debts, etc. JFK and RFK as A-G were not even enforcing legislation that was on the books.

Steve, you make the assumption that JFK would, in 2018, hold on to his 1960’s policies.
I believe he would adapt his policies in order to get elected and hence would become a natural fit in today’s leftist milleau.
He’d be all over global warming, renewables, big government, Emily’s List quotas, marital infidelity and associations with the thugs of the CFMEU.

Yes, the History Channel agrees with you:….he was unable to achieve much of his proposed legislation during his lifetime, including two of his biggest priorities: income tax cuts and a civil rights bill.
I also found that his best selling book “Profiles in Courage” was secretly ghost written by Theodore Sorenson.

Aside from enough philandering to make the #MeToo generation close up shop the most famous Dead Kennedy gave us “ask not what your country can do for you…” which I know was written to encourage greater enthusiasm for civic awareness but could be a catch-cry for the modern Liberal Party if turned toward reducing the ever-expanding expectations on the state.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump. Not a racist bone in their bodies, each with a love of individual freedom coupled with a deep desire to defend our way of life, and anti-socialist to their very core.

Not gonna spoil the book for you, but it’s the perfect antidote to Graham Greene.

Read the book some time ago. The thinking is now that condoning the murder of Diem was one of the worst mistakes the Americans ever made – Diem was far more effective at crushing the Viet Cong insurgency then he was ever given credit for, and, after his murder, the Americans “owned” the war.

I’ve read Case Closed from cover to cover and it closed the case for me, too.

I didn’t see the Oliver Stone film “JFK” – apparently, it depicted Lee Harvey Oswald’s former weapons instructor in the USMC being placed in the Texas Schoolbook Depository, and stating that Oswald couldn’t have made those three shots.

It seems, from Posner’s book, that, when Lee Harvey Oswald’s former weapons instructor was placed at the “sniper’s nest”, he said Lee Harvey Oswald couldn’t have missed, even if he wanted to.

Most of the civil rights legislation was passed under LBJ – the most under-rated – who worked across the aisle using threats, cooling, calling in debts, etc.

Johnson was a communist asshole and the most corrupt president in US history.
The Civil Rights Act 1964 was passed by Republicans.
Yes, you read that right.
The Democrats were totally in thrall to their terrorist wing, the Ku Klux Klan.

By party

The record of the roll call vote kept by the House Clerk on final passage of the bill

The original House version:

Democratic Party: 152–96 (61–39%)
Republican Party: 138–34 (80–20%)

Cloture in the Senate:

Democratic Party: 44–23 (66–34%)
Republican Party: 27–6 (82–18%)

The Senate version:

Democratic Party: 46–21 (69–31%)
Republican Party: 27–6 (82–18%)

The Senate version, voted on by the House:

Democratic Party: 153–91 (63–37%)
Republican Party: 136–35 (80–20%)

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JFK took the world to the brink of destruction needlessly. Rolled the dice and won …

No, he rolled the dice and lost.
The Cuban Missile Crisis was the direct result of Kennedy’s “missile gap” lies during the 1960 campaign. The only gap that existed was that between America’s stupendous missile superiority and the USSR’s woeful inadequacy by comparison. Kennedy was confidentially told the US was WAY out in front and that it wasn’t a good idea to goad Russia into building more nuclear bombs by committing the US to doing so. He ignored that advice. Nixon was of course aware the “missile gap” was a reckless, mendacious pose but kept quiet about American superiority out of a patriotic sense of national interest.

Following Kennedy’s victory, Russia understandably sought to leverage for itself a strategic advantage in Cuba given the new President had promised to ramp up missile production. Having brought the world to the brink, in the end the Kennedys used a secret back-channel with Moscow to surrender. They removed the Jupiter arsenal in Turkey to purchase a Russian withdrawal from Cuba. Kennedy’s nauseatingly sycophantic admirers in the press explained away the Jupiters as “obsolete” but – even if true – it was hardly the point, strategically. If Kennedy ‘won’ the CMC, it was only as a triumph over himself.

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All of that aside, it’s true Kennedy hated leftism and would have no place in the modern Democrat Party.

C.L.: ‘They removed the Jupiter arsenal in Turkey to purchase a Russian withdrawal from Cuba.’
The Jupiter missiles were worthless as a second strike weapon. They sat above the ground, were liquid fuelled, and could only be kept in a state of readiness for a very short time. They were sitting ducks for a conventional airstrike, so only of use as first strike weapons.

LBJ had the JFK killed by the mob, who were happy to do it for various reasons.
Joe Pistone (aka Donnie Brasco) once asked a made guy whether he knew who killed JFK. “Yeah. We did it,” was the response.
Proof is in the papers DJT released.

JFK, overrated and oversexed. If today was his time he would still be a Democrat because all the Kennedy’s were interested in was power and getting there meant they did whatever it takes. None of them actually believed in anything except themselves. Sounds a bit like Bill Shorten doesn’t it?

LBJ had the JFK killed by the mob, who were happy to do it for various reasons.

No and yes. They were likely part of the unholy coalition, though very much at arms-length. Neither LBJ nor any sensible politician wanted to be beholden to the mob. They probably had Jack Ruby shoot LHO, which was important in quashing suggestions of conspiracy, which would’ve resulted in the FBI taking over the investigation from the Dallas Police.

Everett Dirksen
During 10 of his 11 years as party floor leader, the number of Senate Republicans never exceeded 36. Yet, as a supremely creative and resourceful legislator, Dirksen routinely influenced the agenda of the majority-party Democrats. His willingness to change position on issues earned him designations ranging from “statesman” to “Grand Old Chameleon.”

On the subject of Senate leadership, it was Dirksen who said, “There are 100 diverse personalities in the U.S. Senate. Oh Great God. What an amazing and dissonant 100 personalities they are! What an amazing thing it is to harmonize them.”

Also involved were the Easter Bunny, the militant wing of the military, and JFK.

Oswald was not a real person, but various portions stolen from a morgue stitched together – if you watch the footage you can see the wires that make him move marionette-like.

The proof lies in the fact there is no proof – every conspiracy has some detail which is consistent (the Chicago Syndicate and the CIA didn’t like him, conflicting reports of where the sound of the rifle shot originated etc).

But the real conspirators revealed themselves by covering their tracks too well – because they knew exactly what they were trying to cover.

Ronnie Regan stalled and avoided the whole AIDS crisis, discouraged research which has resulted in an estimated 33 million deaths world wide. An utter failure as a decent human being.

Once the way AIDS is spread was discovered, it should have been easy to wipe out. But that would mean people’s risky behaviour would have to change.

Now there are retroviral drugs available, those old risky behaviours are surfacing again.

Note: the heterosexual AIDS explosion didn’t happen as predicted by those who were trying to project because of their own poor choices.

For those of us who don’t engage in those practices, we barely have to worry about AIDS at all, unless you are in the Emergency Services / Medical profession who have to deal with them in emergency situations.

Pulitzer-prize winning author David Halberstam’s eyewitness account of the most critical political period of U.S. involvement in Vietnam-the Kennedy/Diem era-remains as fresh and stimulating today as when it was first published in 1965. In the introduction to this edition, historian Daniel J. Singal provides crucial background information that was unavailable when the book was written.

The set up for this debacle was entirely due to the prior Administration under Ike and the Dulles bros. The S was HingTF before Kennedy was inaugurated and the megalomaniac Dulles undermined JFK from the get go. Hoover was a nutter by this stage. Kennedy was under siege from his own team from the start which is probably his biggest failing. Far too many carry overs.

The Jupiter missiles were worthless as a second strike weapon. They sat above the ground, were liquid fuelled, and could only be kept in a state of readiness for a very short time. They were sitting ducks for a conventional airstrike, so only of use as first strike weapons.

Dear JC and Perplexed of Brisbane – lattest UN figures estimate 35 million world wide have died of AIDS. Of this figure only 6% are from the USA and Europe (estimate). But of course neither of you would know about this because both of you have your head so far up your own arses nothing else could get in.

The US president doesn’t have any direct responsibility for people dying of AIDS. Moreover the first anti-viral medications were a cocktail of very expensive drugs that were inappropriate for most people around the world because the infected person required extended rest when taking them. Rest and relaxation is a first world thing.

Again, if you stopped sticking penises in poop holes and the numbers of sexual partners in the poor world was reduced AIDS would not be a problem. What you are supporting is risky behaviour without consequences and then demanding the goberment bail you out without consequences. Moral hazard is a bitch.

In the introduction to this edition, historian Daniel J. Singal provides crucial background information that was unavailable when the book was written.

Thanks for that, Muddy, I’m bagging a copy.

That’s an OOOPS! on my part, Zulu. I wasn’t recommending it, as I have neither read it, nor do I have any belief in the credibility of Mr. Halberstam to be an objective observer. I’ve mentioned Mark Moyar’s work to you previously; from his writings and others, the South Vietnamese Government (Diem at the time) would have been better served having Halberstam et al ‘disappeared.’ Together with Cabot-Lodge, they stirred, fabricated, and got fed false information via Viet Cong spies which contributed largely (though not solely) to the pot boiling over.

That Halberstam has a reprint 55 years after he helped to launch his country into the quagmire, is astonishing.

That’s an OOOPS! on my part, Zulu. I wasn’t recommending it, as I have neither read it, nor do I have any belief in the credibility of Mr. Halberstam to be an objective observer.

No need for any OOOPS, Muddy, I read the book years ago, I’m wondering if the “information that was unavailable when the book was written” includes the fact that Halberstam’s main source in the South Vietnamese Government was a double agent…

Zulu,
You’re probably talking about the same book I read earlier this year (I cannot recall the title right now). I was a little dubious about its validity, but certainly wouldn’t rule out its claims completely. There are also too many other sources that raise questions about the influence of the North on the gullible resident U.S. media (with some exceptions), which seemed to have an abnormal influence on some of the decision-makers back home, to rule out the possibility.

As mentioned above, it astonishes me that some of those who got it so wrong (Neil Sheehan, anybody?), are still making money from their role.

One other thing. I’m a light smoker and fully aware of the risks. If I go down to an illness directly related to my habit, I’m not going to blame Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, the Kenyan or Trump for not spending lots of money finding a cure for me. I’m to blame and it’s my problem.

I’ve never tried that. I’ll defer to your experience and knowledge that it is possible to fit your head there.

You are correct about the spread of AIDS in the third world. They do struggle to obtain knowledge of what spreads it and they don’t have the western luxury of being able to choose to change their behaviour as often those behaviours earn money to live, or of having access to drugs that will help them.

I agree with the other commenters on this. Don’t engage in anal sex, share needles and as was pointed out by the late Larry Pickering; ladies, don’t let your bi-sexual partner perform anal sex on you. That helps spread it into the mainstream community.

Have a monogamous relationship with a partner of the opposite sex and both stay faithful and you won’t have to worry about AIDS. First world problems hey?

And as for RFK … see the movie BOBBY for footage of Bobby himself in actual footage sitting down with primary school kids – a la Turdbull when he announced the incandescent light globe ban – and telling them that by 1975 we’ll have to wear gas masks to go outside in New York, ie if he isn’t elected POTUS (I’m guessing).

He wasn’t elected President and you can go outside in New York without a gas mask as of 2018 and counting.

The Cuban missile crisis was the result of JFK’s gutlessness at the Bay of Pigs.
Killing the commies in Cuba might also have convinced the Cong in Vietnam that they were next in line for elimination.
LBJ was a piece of human shit. Gutless with no redeeming features whatsoever.